Cal Poly Pomona wins Division II opener

BELLINGHAM, Wash. — With All-CCAA guard DeRonn Scott out because of a foot injury, the call came from the Cal Poly Pomona coaches for someone to step up.

Terrence Drisdom answered the call and scored a career-high 26 points Friday, leading the Broncos to a 69-61 first-round NCAA Division II victory over Chico State.

Chico State took an early 17-9 lead, but Cal Poly Pomona closed out the first half on a 20-4 run.

“This just shows how tough we are,” Drisdom said “When we’re down like that, we don’t hang our heads and go through the motions, we just try to keep playing tough.”

The victory advances the Broncos (28-2) into a second-round matchup Monday against Seattle Pacific, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament champions. Chico State (19-11) was led by Damario Sims with 21 points.

Mitchel Anderson collected 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Broncos, the 13th double-double of his career and fourth in the last six games. Freshman Jordan Faison joined Drisdom and Anderson in double figures, scoring 14 points on six-for-nine shooting.